


don't you get it? we're rivals

by ThisIsAGoodSign



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, Rivalry, Self-Indulgent, Softball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24585532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsAGoodSign/pseuds/ThisIsAGoodSign
Summary: Catra and Adora are playing for rival softball teams, but when their competition becomes more about them than the game things get a little more complicated.-Or a Catradora softball hsau
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	don't you get it? we're rivals

**Author's Note:**

> Should I finish my other WIPs instead of starting another one? Yes. Did I binge all of She-Ra like three weeks ago, fall in love with this ship and write this? Also yes.
> 
> Seriously tho I'm so happy about season 5 and hope you guys enjoy this self-indulgent catradora rivalry fic.

Adora didn’t care that the first game of the season was against their school’s long term rivals, for her it was just another game, and she intended to win. She may just be a freshman but she’s already known on her team as one of their best players, not to mention their star pitcher. Her athletic ability was part of the reason she was even at such a prestigious school as Brightmoon. She felt like she had to win this game and show her worth and start off the season strong. It didn’t matter how many times the other team’s shortstop looked at her.

They were only about four minutes into their warm up and Adora had made eye contact with one of The Horde’s —admittedly attractive— players at least five times. She had short wild hair and different colored eyes and that smirk of hers was going to be really distracting.

So Adora did her best to not look at that side of the field for as long as possible. Instead she moved beside the dugout with Glimmer, her team's catcher and one of Adora’s best friends, to warm up pitching. It felt all too soon that they were called to hear the lineup and the game began. She got about six more practice pitches in before the first batter was up. After the first three batters there was one player on second, but they already had two outs. Pretty good start Adora thought. But the next player up was the one that had been looking at Adora earlier. 

There’s a number 5 plastered on the back of her maroon jersey and she has that same smug look on her face as she steps up to the plate. Adora was so close to shaking that distraction from her brain and getting ready to pitch when the girl grins and _winks_. Needless to say Adora’s pitch does not go where it’s supposed to.

Glimmer gives her an odd look as she quickly goes to retrieve the ball. The girl that was on second used this time to steal third and Adora has to get a hold on herself. Glimmer tosses the ball back and she shakes out her limbs before getting ready to throw the ball again. She makes eye contact with the batter as she throws a fastball. This is still a ball, but it’s much closer than the last.

Adora couldn’t stop her cocky grin at number 5’s shocked look even if she wanted to. The next pitch is a strike and she swung too late. When Adora sees the girl’s mismatched eyes narrow she realises she’s having way too much fun with this. The girl manages to hit the next one hard enough to go right past Adora and a little ways into the outfield. And damn that girl is fast. She’s already past first base when their center fielder, Mermista, gets the ball.

Adora snaps out of it and ducks so Mermista can throw it in to Glimmer. It’s a great throw, but the girl that was at third slides and makes the run. Adora would have been slightly irritated at the other teams point (really she’s way too competitive for her own good) but she sees the girl that made the run wince and clutch her ankle and she knows something was wrong.

Adora hadn’t seen exactly what happened, but the girl must have slid wrong trying to get to home plate. The umpires and coaches crowded around to see if she was alright, along with the Horde team captain, so she turned to walk back to the mound where the other infielders were huddled, with Glimmer following not far behind. When she joined them they chattered a bit, but none of them seemed to have seen exactly what happened. Adora couldn’t help but look over her shoulder to see number 5 looking bored as she watched from second base.

When she caught Adora’s eye she smirked again and raised an eyebrow. Before Adora knew what she was doing she excused herself and walked over to her, ignoring her teammates confused looks.

“Hey princess,” the girl drawled when Adora was close enough to her.

“That was really uncool you know.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” somehow the girl looked even more smug than before.

“You distracted me.”

“Is that why you almost walked me? That’s good to hear, I was hoping you’d be more of a challenge but those first few pitches were just pathetic.”

Adora was fuming now, clenching her fists so as to keep some of her composure, but the girl seemed to know exactly what she was doing to her based on the look on her face. “Well I doubt I’m the only one that’s distracted based on how badly you missed that strike.”

She actually looked a little impressed, but Adora wasn’t able to revel in it for long because the injured girl stood up and limped back to the dugout with the help of their team captain. Adora took one last look at this infuriating girl before heading back to the mound.

The rest of the inning went by without incident, but Adora swore the girl winked at her after she made a run.

When Adora got back in the dugout Glimmer cornered her before she could even get a drink of water. “What the hell was that?”

“What?”

“Adora I’ve never seen you throw more than two balls in a row before today, and then you went to talk to that girl after the umpire called time, do you know her or something?”

“What? No, she’s just—I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if you know her?”

“No I mean I’ve never seen her before, there’s nothing going on I swear,” Adora said, and when Glimmer didn’t look convinced she added, “I’ll be on my game for the rest of the day, I swear.”

“You better,” Glimmer grinned and clapped her on the back.

As Adora looked back at the field, though, she saw number 5 quickly look away from Adora and focus back right as the first baseman threw a ball her way.

-

Adora was up to bat and she couldn’t remember another time she was this nervous to hit. She’d always loved batting and was pretty damn good at it, yet when she saw the look in number 5’s eye she knew that if she hit a grounder anywhere near her she’d do everything in her power to stop it. The smart thing to do would probably be to try and aim towards right field, but Adora has never been one to back down from a challenge.

So no one really should have been surprised when she swung as hard as she could at the first strike and hit an incredibly fast line-drive right at that girl and started to sprint down the bases. In her periphery she caught number 5 almost stopping it, only for it to hit her in the arm and roll away. Adora grimaced at the bruise she was sure that girl would have the next day. She was about halfway to second when the girl picked up the ball again and Adora just barely beat her there. She couldn’t help the smirk that spread across her lips when the girl growled at her.

“Sorry about that, it looked like it hurt.”

“Oh don’t look so smug, princess.”

“Catra! Are you okay? That seemed really fast,” the Horde’s catcher, a heavily muscled girl with short white hair, came running up to the shortstop —Catra— with a worried look on her face.

“I’m fine,” Catra spat out, shooting one last glare at Adora before going back to her place.

Adora felt a little bad throughout the rest of the game, as she saw Catra sulk slightly and rub her arm every once in a while.

-

They won. By one run but a win was a win. Her teammates ran and crushed her in a hug when it was over, but Adora was more focused on the girl on the other side of the field packing up her stuff. Her teammates pulled her into a circle and they did their Brightmoon Rebels Cheer, Adora halfheartedly raised her hand as they all shouted “For the honor of Grayskull!” at the top of their lungs. Once the coaches had said their spiel about what they’d done well and what could be improved Adora quickly grabbed her bag and ran off in the direction of the bus that the Horde players were piling on to. Their schools were only a few blocks away from each other so Adora didn’t see the need for buses, but that's besides the point.

She really shouldn’t have been disappointed when she didn’t see Catra in the mass of bodies. Still she had been looking forward to telling her how well she had done, and possibly rubbing the win in her face, just a bit. Her shoulders sagged slightly before she heard a raspy voice near her ear, “looking for someone?”

“Shit!” Adora jumped and spun around to see Catra right behind her. “Catra? You’re not taking the bus with your teammates?”

“Nah, I live close by so figured I might as well walk, getting to scare you was just an added bonus,” Catra had a small grin that told Adora she wasn’t too mad about the loss (or getting hit by a softball). “How’d you know my name?”

“The catcher said it when she came to see if you were okay.”

“Oh yeah. Scorpia’s sweet but she can be a bit much sometimes, I should probably apologize for snapping at her though.”

Adora scratched the back of her neck. She had wanted to see Catra at least one more time, but now that she was right in front of her she had no idea what to say.

“So. Did you want to gloat or just sit there looking flustered?”

“What? No, I—”

“Don’t hurt yourself princess, I’m just teasing.”

“Adora.”

“Huh?”

“It’s my name, so you can stop calling me princess.”

“Adora,” Catra repeated as if trying out how it sounded, “your parents knew you were gonna be adored by all or just cause you’re so cute?”

“Oh haha very original,” Adora replied, ignoring how the second part made her blush. It was weird though, Adora had never talked to this girl before, but the way they were speaking now felt like they’d known eachother forever.

“Well as fun as this is I should really get going before I have to walk home in the dark.”

Adora wanted to say something else, anything, but nothing came to mind. Catra’s smirk softened as if she knew exactly what Adora was thinking, and she spared Adora from the embarrassment of whatever she was probably about to blurt out by turning around.

“See you around princess,” she called over her shoulder.

“I told you not to call me that!” Adora grumbled back. Catra lifted her hand in a wave as she sauntered away.

Adora was still standing there when her teammates and fans rushed at her again. It didn’t take long for her to get caught up in the excitement of the win again, so much so that she almost forgot about number 5’s smug smirk and taunting voice. Almost.

*******

By the time Brightmoon had another game against The Horde Adora was too distracted to remember that she would be seeing Catra again. Her team had been practically undefeated so Coach Angella was pushing them extra hard as they neared the playoffs. That along with midterms and typical high school stress had Adora in a constant state of frantic anxiety. So no one could really blame her for being so distracted as they got off the bus.

Adora had her head in the air as she took in their rival school. It was a fair amount smaller than Brightmoon, and their field wasn’t nearly as well taken care of, but Adora knew better than to underestimate them.

Adora had volunteered to carry the water jug along with her stuff —because of course she would, she’s Adora— and in the distance could see the maroon uniforms of The Horde as they warmed up on the field. She felt like she’d forgotten something important, but Glimmer bounced up beside her and soon she forgot all about it.

It wasn’t until they’d almost made it to the dugout, and Adora could see one of the Horde players jogging towards her that she remembered. Catra. The smug shortstop that Adora hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for like a week after their last game. Who was now making her way over to where Adora was now standing completely still. Crap.

“Adora? Adora what’s going on are you okay?”

Instead of answering Glimmer’s question Adora just thrust the water container at her friend with a quick, “Hold this for me for a sec?” before dropping her own bag and running towards Catra.

When they met somewhere in the middle of where Adora was standing to the field Catra opened her mouth to say something, probably sarcastic, but was cut off by Adora grabbing her wrist and dragging her away.

She had no idea where she was going, having never been to this school before, but managed to find a somewhat secluded space away from the crowd.

“Couldn’t wait to get me alone, huh princess?”

“What? Oh shut up,” Adora groaned, despite the blush crawling up her face.

Catra was now leaning against the wall, her typical smirk lighting up her face as she looked Adora over.

“So why’d you drag me out here?”

Good question. “Well, I-I just want to say before this starts that we’re gonna win, again.” Catra raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t say anything, “and you will not be getting in my head.”

To Adora’s surprise Catra laughed. It was high pitched and short, but it kinda made Adora smile all the same. Damn it. Sure Catra was more than a little cute, but Adora would not let her get in the way of this win, Brightmoon needed this if they wanted to progress through the playoffs.

“Glad to see you’re still so confident, but I’m afraid The Horde will be taking the win this time around.”

Adora put on her best glare and stepped forward, probably too far into Catra’s space considering this is only the second time they’d met. “We’ll just have to see about that.”

She heard Catra’s breath catch and actually considered leaning in all the way, but when she heard a shout from the distance that sounded a lot like Coach Angella’s voice Adora remembered where they were. She pulled back quickly. Catra slid to the side and walked away in the direction of the field. Adora took a moment to lean against the wall and get her thoughts in order before heading after her.

Angella was irritated when she got there and she had to give Glimmer some excuse about needing the restroom. She then took two solitary laps around their side of the field. Catra seemed to have gotten similar treatment from the Horde’s intense looking Coach if the way she was pouting and running laps was any indication. Adora had heard that the Horde coach —Coach Weaver— was harsh, but with the way she was glaring at Catra it made Adora want to go over there and kick her ass. Not that she would. Still, she seemed to be extra hard on Catra and it just made Adora’s blood boil. And if Adora threw her pitches a little harder than she normally would or imagined Coach Weaver’s face on the balls when she was hitting then sue her.

She all but forgot about The Horde’s bitchy coach though when the game started. They were batting first and Adora was already on deck. She couldn’t help but notice Catra looking in her direction every once in a while as she did some practice swings. This time, however, it didn’t distract her when she was up to bat. For most of the game actually there was little more than a few glances and competitive faces exchanged between the two of them.

In the end Brightmoon lost by 3 runs. Angella chalked it up to needing more aggressive base-running and tighter defense, but Adora suspected it had more to do with the Horde and their ridiculously good plays. She swore they weren’t this good the last game, but maybe she was just frustrated. Scratch that she was definitely frustrated. They’d taken her out after the first half to rest so Adora was antsy and couldn’t help but want just one more inning, with her pitching, to see if it would make a difference.

She was still thinking about this as she sat by the curb after the team bus left. She lived right between Brightmoon and The Horde so it made more sense to walk than go past her house. But she didn’t feel like leaving just yet.

“Hey Adora.”

Adora didn’t know when she’d gotten there but suddenly Catra was right beside her. She had her hands clutching her bag behind her back and was leaning into Adora’s line of sight with her head tilted. She had the ghost of that superior grin on her lips, as if she was waiting for the right time to rub her win in Adora’s face and let it loose.

“Hey Catra.”

At Adora’s sullen tone all the smugness seemed to drain out of Catra. “Damn, I didn’t think you’d be that sore of a loser.” Adora was sure that was supposed to be comforting or amusing or something but Catra completely missed the mark.

“Gee, thanks.”

“Oh you know what I mean, that was a really close game. I was kinda looking forward to some good competitive banter, but I can’t do that in good conscience when your face is like that.”

“Like what?”

“All sad and defeated. It’s not a good look on you,” Catra said as she sat down next to Adora.

“I’m not sad I’m thinking.”

“Well stop, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Adora laughed and bumped her shoulder, “Jerk.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Catra not knowing what to say and Adora lost in thought.

“Can I ask you something?”

Catra looked up, surprised, and nodded.

“Why me? At that first game you could have chosen anyone to try and psych out or whatever, so why’d you keep looking at me?”

“You really don’t know do you?”

“Know what?”

“You’re like a fucking magnet or something Adora, it’s kinda hard not to stare at you. I kinda hated it at first, but you tried so hard and you’re always so bright and hopeful, even with me.”

Adora was taken aback by that. Catra wasn’t the type of person to take compliments (was that a compliment?) like that lightly, even Adora could tell that much, so why was she like this with Adora?

“Oh don’t look so shocked, we’d heard about Brightmoon’s prodigy pitcher way before our game with you. After we saw you in action Shadow Weaver went psycho training us to beat you.”

“Shadow Weaver?”

“Our coach. She’s a nasty piece of work so the nickname is pretty fitting.”

“Wait so is she hard on you because of me?”

“Sorta I guess. It’s not your fault by any means, she’s just always hated me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“I was actually considering quitting softball before I met my rival.”

“Rival?”

“Yeah you, stupid,” Catra bumped Adora’s shoulder again. They were sitting so close now that their shoulders were brushing even when she leaned away. It was weird, Adora had never quite known how to be super affectionate, but with Catra it was easy, like they’d known eachother forever.

Adora was full on grinning now, her guilt about Shadow Weaver and the game all but forgotten. 

“Oh no, stop looking at me like that,” Catra backtracked, “this does not mean I like you, you’re still my enemy.”

Adora was still smiling at her like she didn’t believe a word of what Catra had just said. “Right, so you comfort all your enemies after games?”

Catra huffed and scrunched up her nose in a way that was way too adorable to be allowed. “Would you have preferred I left you here to mope in peace?”

“You like me too much to do that.”

“I told you I don’t—”

Catra was cut off by Adora lightly tackling her and rubbing her knuckles into Catra’s head. Catra was struggling and demanding to be freed, but they were both laughing so Adora didn’t take it too seriously.

“Get off me,” Catra actually giggled as she shoved at adora's hands.

“Not until you admit you like me.”

Catra finally broke free and jumped to her feet, trying to glare through a smile. “I don’t like you.”

Adora chuckled and raised her hands in surrender. She stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, pointing behind her back, “hey, I should probably get going soon, but do you wanna walk with me?”

“No,” Catra said bluntly, “but we’re going in the same direction so I don’t really have a choice.”

Adora snickered and they headed off away from the school. Even if she'd never say it Adora knew Catra was glad for the company. They walked mostly in silence for a while until Catra stopped suddenly. She then gestured to the small brick house next to them, “this is me.”

“Oh.”

They stood there for a moment, neither of them moving. “Can I walk you to your door then?”

“How chivalrous.”

Adora bowed. When she straightened up again with a dumb grin on her face Catra snorted and started laughing.

“So you’re a jock and a dork?”

“Oh shut up,” Adora swatted her shoulder and started walking up the path. They hesitated again when they got to the door. It was certainly an odd situation and neither quite knew how to end this evening. A hug would be far too intimate considering they weren’t even really friends but it felt wrong not to do anything.

“So, uh I’ll just...” Adora awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and gestured back the way they’d come.

“See ya, princess.”

“Why do you call me that?”

Catra shrugged, “it just fits, maybe it’s the uniform? I mean white and gold, really?”

Adora laughed again and started backing up, “alright bye Catra.”

Catra nodded and turned to unlock the door, so Adora started walking back down the path. When Adora looked back Catra had disappeared into her house.


End file.
